Curriculum

We believe at Highfield that learning should be fun! We provide our children with a stimulating learning environment. We are really proud of our fantastic 'Forest School' environment where children have direct access to quality outdoor learning.

There has been a substantial investment in IT resources to ensure that our children have the very best and up to date resources such as iPads and Macbook Airs etc. We have also invested in 2 minibuses to enhance pupils' learning experiences by giving them instant access to learning environments away from school.
We aim to give our children the best possible start to school life. They have fun in the Foundation Stage but also receive a good balance of learning from the 7 areas in the Foundation Stage curriculum. There is a mixture of teacher led activities and pupil choice. The children are encouraged to become independent, communicative learners. In Key Stages 1 and 2 the children follow the National Curriculum and develop their knowledge and understanding of all curricular areas.
In Key Stage 1 and 2 we have developed our own 'creative curriculum' to meet the needs of our pupils. We have moved away from the QCA Schemes to produce our own curriculum based on making learning fun through motivating and enthusing our pupils. We follow a skills based curriculum where the children are 'hooked' into the topic by a special event or creative lesson to kick-start the learning. Examples of this last term were:-
Year 1/2 on Pirates - Pirate Workshop arranged after pupils received a message in a bottle from Pirates.

Our Key Stage 2 Creative Curriculum topic Terrible Trenches began with a 'recruitment day'. Children were invited to turn up to school in period clothing and were taken through a series of activities to enlist enlist in the army. They then went on to learn all about World War 1 - how it began, life in the trenches and daily life on the home front. They re-enacted the Christmas Truce and reflected on the meaning of that event. A huge wooden horse appeared in the grounds. Underneath it was a copy of Michael Morpurgo's War Horse for every child. The children then went on to read the story and to see the stage show at Sunderland Empire.

Read Write Inc
Read Write Inc is a synthetic phonics programme that teaches children to read and write through exciting and energetic lessons.

Background: Read Write Inc. was designed by Ruth Miskin with the intention of having all children reading by the age of 6. It is a full teaching programme proven to develop:

fluent, enthusiastic readers

confident speakers

keen writers

Seven of the twelve schools highlighted as outstanding in Ofsted's report, Reading by Six, used Read Write Inc. Phonics in their literacy lessons.

How it works: Children are introduced to speed sounds. They learn the 44 common sounds in the english language and how to blend these for reading and segment for writing. The children read lively, interesting and fun books and have their own Get Writing books in which they write daily. Children move quickly through the levels learning more sounds and developing their ability to compose and write sentences. All children know who Fred the frog is and use 'Fred fingers' to help them blend!

Setting:

Lessons run 4 mornings a week. Children are placed in groups of no more than 20. Having set and smaller groups allows for children to be taught at a level which challenges them and moves them quickly through the levels of the scheme. Children are assessed on a half termly basis to ensure that progress is being made and they are working at the correct level.

Teaching: Children are taught to:

learn to read and write letter-sound correspondences quickly

decode effortlessly, spell and handwrite easily

comprehend what they read

read with fluency and expression

write confidently using oral rehearsal

work effectively with a partner to articulate their learning at every step